Orleans pushes off-road escorts past plover nests to 2015

A plan to escort off-road vehicles past piping plover nests on the southern end of Nauset Beach will likely not go into effect until next year, proponents say.

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By MARY ANN BRAGG

capecodtimes.com

By MARY ANN BRAGG

Posted May. 2, 2014 at 2:00 AM

By MARY ANN BRAGG

Posted May. 2, 2014 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

ORLEANS — A plan to escort off-road vehicles past piping plover nests on the southern end of Nauset Beach will likely not go into effect until next year, proponents say.

In early March, the Orleans Board of Selectmen approved the escort idea as part of an effort to get a three-year incidental take permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The incidental take permit authorizes certain activities, such as the escort plan, that are lawful but may cause harm to a federally protected species such as a plover.

The proposed plan would allow up to 180 vehicles, in groups of 60, to drive by up to two broods of plovers each day. Walking and in-vehicle monitors would accompany each caravan.

The town had hoped to enact the plan July 15 to help prevent multiday closings of sand access roads this summer to protect plover nests. But several hurdles have led the project's working group to recommend that the date on the permit application be revised to July 15, 2015. The escort plan and other procedures to mitigate harm to the plovers is called the habitat conservation plan, and is part of the permit application.

"We're approaching 400 pages, and we're not done yet," working group member Scott Morris, executive vice president of the Massachusetts Beach Buggy Association, said Wednesday of the plan.

"It's got to be perfect to succeed," Morris said.

The Atlantic coast piping plover was listed as a threatened species in 1986 under the federal Endangered Species Act. Orleans enforces seasonal vehicle restrictions on Nauset Beach to protect nesting plovers under a Conservation Commission order from 1991.

Last summer, sand trails leading south on Nauset Beach were closed a record 83 days, from June 2 to Aug. 23, to protect plover nests, angering off-road vehicle owners who had paid town fees for off-road permits. The trails heading north toward Eastham also were closed for a few weeks. The town earns more than $200,000 a year selling off-road permits.

Orleans Selectman John Hodgson, also a member of the working group, will talk with the other selectmen Wednesday about deferring the plan. Chatham Selectman Sean Summers is also a member of the group.

"For this summer, it would be business as usual," Hodgson said. "That is our recommendation."

The plan is in its 10th revision, based on federal requirements, and even once it is finalized, the federal government would still need at least "three or four months more," Hodgson said.

And even if the plan were approved July 14 this year, there wouldn't be time to adequately train town staff to start July 15, he said. Any attempt to rush the plan without it being fully ready could put the whole idea at risk, Hodgson said.

"It's complex, and there are a lot of steps," U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokeswoman Meagan Racey said. "I can understand the frustration."

Once the town submits a final version of the habitat conservation plan, then federal officials hope to expedite the process based on the relatively small "take" of plovers, meaning up to two broods, requested in the permit, Racey said.

In the Endangered Species Act, a "take" is defined as harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture or collect, or attempt to do so.

There are further sticking points, though, Morris said. For example, the federal wildlife agency wants the plan to include the lethal removal of plover predators. The beach buggy association is opposed to killing one bird, such as a crow, to save the life of another bird, say, a plover, Morris said.

But the idea behind the federal permit, Racey said, is that an incidental "take" for an activity such as the over-sand driving plan is allowed only with an agreement to mitigate the damage and help the federal government move the species forward. The loss of two broods a year must be directly offset, she said. Because predation is the biggest killer of plovers in Massachusetts, and because Orleans already does other mitigation efforts well, predator removal or predator management is what remains, Racey said.

But the association says what's in the plan so far should be enough, such as monitors, a $10,000 set aside for off-site mitigation measures and public education, Morris said.

"We do not want to deal with that right now," Morris said. "We feel it's not necessary in what we're trying to do in initiating this process."

The federal government also wants more of a commitment in terms of the budget, Morris said. "They want a guarantee that the budget would be in place."

Another bump in the road for the town has been the 1991 Conservation Commission order of conditions, which is technically only for the northern end of Nauset Beach but has been used informally for the southern beach as well.

In processing the paperwork for the habitat plan, state environment officials asked for an order of conditions specifically for the south section of the beach. The town has now filed the paperwork. The first town Conservation Commission hearing was held Tuesday and a second is scheduled for June 3.

An upcoming request for $78,000 at the May 12 annual town meeting to help fund the plan for the summer may be postponed, Hodgson said.

The Chatham Board of Selectmen estimates its share of the plan's expenses would be around $20,000 annually. The selectmen expect to use existing cash if the plan is agreed upon soon, or seek money at a future town meeting, Chairman Timothy Roper said in an email to the Times.